Method of loading small items into constricted space



Feb. 10, 1959 L. 5. MICHAEL "METHOD OF LOADING SMALL ITEMS INTO CONSTRICTED SPACE Filed June 3, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l ra Z- Louis 5- INVENTOR.

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Feb. 10, 1959 L. 5. MICHAEL v 2,872,7

METHOD OF LOADING SMALL. ITEMS INTO 'CONSTRICTED SPACE Filed June 3, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

Louis 5- michael Patented Feb. 10, res-a ire METHOD OF LOADING SMALL ITEMS INTO CONSTRHCTED SPACE Louis 5. Michael, Springfield, Va.

Application June 3, 1958, Serial No. 739,637

Claims. (Cl. 53-24) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured andused by or for the Government for governmental'purposes Without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a method of loading small elongated items into constricted spaces. The method described herein is particularly adaptable for loading fiechettes, which are in the form of small dartsor arrows, into a thin metal can which is lightly sealed by cement, etc. This can is used as an anti-personnel weapon. It can be inserted in the forward portion of a cartridge case in substitution for a bullet and when shot from a firearm, the can is readily opened and the flechettes are scattered in shot gun fashion over a wide area. This method is also adaptable to ammunition ofa wide range ofcaliber.

Considerable difficulty heretofore has been experienced in packing flechettes of this type into ammunition. Heretofore, a maximum number of fiechettes could not be packed into each round, due totheir awkward construc tion; They were usually packed only by hand, hence most canister ammunition. of this type remained at less than its maximumpermissible eiiiciency.

The method of the invention may also be employed in packaging other symmetrical objectssuch as matches and similar elongated articles into a constricted space such as acanorabox.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to load small symmetrical elongated items into constricted space.

lt is another object of. the invention to'load a maximum number of fle'chettes into a canisterfor use with a round of ammunition to provide greater anti-personnel eifectiveness.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a method of loading elongated objects into a constricted space that is extremely simple yet efficient.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from the description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

1 Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which fiechett'esare fed into a semi-circular canister half,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the semi-circular canister half assembled in a semi-circular groove in its fixture, V

Fig. 3 is a cross section illustrating a fixture mounted on a vibrating member and illustrating schematically fiechettes being fed intoj'the canister half from each side thereof, x

Fig. 4 is'a cross section illustratingthe' step of tamping Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the assemblyafter removal of the septum,

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section and illustrates the manner of forcing the completed canister out of the fixtures andinto a tubular container,

Fig. 9 is a cross section and illustrates the final step of closing the tubular container,

Fig. 10 is a side. elevation illustrating a round of-ammunition including a canister formed by the method of the invention,

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a quarter round segment of the divided canister, and,

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of one of the semi-circular end pieces of the divided canister.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote like parts, and more particularly to Fig. 1 in which is illustrated one-half of a symmetrically v divided or segmented canister and is generally indicated the fiechettes after cessation of the loading and; vibration I operations,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view and shows the step of placing a septum over the loadedcanis terhalf,

Fig. 6 is a cross section showing a pair of fixtures with their semi-circular loaded halves in assembled relation and before removal of the septum,

.may be employed therefore.

by l. The canister 1 is built up of symmetrical segments and consists of semi-circular dividing walls 2 and quarter round side walls 3 as is shown individually in Figs. 11 and 12 respectively. When both halves l of the canister are assembled, as best seen in cross section in Fig. 6, they form a cylindrical container having compartments of equal size which as shown in the drawing by way of example, are of sufficient length to receive tiers of fiechettes therein. The container may be of any length desired, being built up as is necessary for the purpose for which the canister is to be used. Also Shown in Fig. l is the manner in which flechettes F are fed alternately into the canister half from both sides thereof. it will be noted that the fiechettes being fed from one side are arranged so that they have their points in one direction while on the other side they are reversed. This insures a more compact stacking in the compartments to allow a maximum number of flechettes to be loaded into the canister halves. Both halves are loaded similarly.

Figs. 2 to 10 inclusive illustrate the method of loading flechettes into a container to be used in canister ammunition.

In Fig. 2, there is illustrated one-half of a divided canister assembled for filling. A die having a semicircular groove 5 cut through its entire length receives one canister half. The divided elements 2 and 3 may be lightly cemented after assembly in the groove to hold them together for loading or any other suitable means The die halves 4 areidentical as are the canister halves and are provided with dowel pins 6 and holes 7 for the purpose of alignment of the die halves when mated. Other suitable means for holding the die halves 4 in proper alignment may be used, dowel pins 6 and holes 7 being shown as one means only.

When the canister half 1 is assembled in the die groove 5, another identical half is then assembled in the same manner in another die, as the first half. The assembled halves are then ready for loading. One assembled half with its die is then placed on a vibrating platform 8 of a vibrating device (not shown) and as is used to vibrate paint cans or the like. (See Fig. 3.) While the assembled half is vibrating, iiechettcs F are fed into the compartments by suitable means (not shown) as pre viously described.

After the canister half 1 has been filled to a load somewhat above the upper face of the canister half i, the load is gentlytamp ed by a suitable tool 9 having a resilient bottom it) of a material suchas soft rubber, felt or the like so as to pre ent injury to the fiechettes see Fig. 4-}. The tamping is to pack the load in the compartment and also to level it flush with the upper surface of the canister half 1 and its die More flechettes can be added by hand or by mechanical means and tamped until a compact mass of flechettes arranged in tiers isachieved. The

half to settle on the lower half to form a solid cylindrical loaded canister in a tubular bore as seen in Fig. 7.

The completed loaded divided canister is now ready to be loaded into a metal tubular container 11 which forms the projectile of a canister type ammunition. The tubular container is axially aligned at the mouth of the'bore formed by semi-circular grooves in dies 4 by any suitable means (not shown). A piston 12 operated by suitablepower (not shown) is employed to push the divided canister halves 1 axially into the container 11. After the canister halves 1 are pushed all the way into container 11, the open end of the container is lightly sealed as at .13. Container 11 is then mounted in a cartridge case or 14- thereby forming a completed round of canister ammunition.

By this method of loading fiechettes into a round of canister type ammunition, a highly effective anti-personnel round is achieved and a load containing a maximum amount of flechettes is contained therein.

' Upon firing the round, the container 11 will open readily by virtue of the light seal 13 and the divided canister will readily disintegrate. The flechettes having their points in reverse position will rotate in flight until the points of all the flechettes are pointed in the same direction.

It is pointed out that while this method of loading is particularly adaptable for loading flechettes, other objects such as matches, etc. could be loaded into a container similarly, hence the purpose of this invention is not the loading of fiechettes alone.

The length of the load is not limited and is controlled by the number of compartments built up by the segments 2 and 3 and the length of the dies 4. An extremely long load could conceivably be built up and fired by a rocket, whereby flechettes could be dispersed over a wide area with resulting anti-personnel damage. The size of the load will depend therefore on the diameter of the canister halves and their length only. Therefore, a highly lethal weapon has been achieved by the method of the invention and also an elficient method of packing a maximum number of objects into a constricted space.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of loading small elongated objects into a constricted space, the steps of feeding said objects into a pair of identical semi-cylindrical canister halves, said objects being fed alternately and in side by side relation from both sides of each said half and being disposed on one side in reversed position with respect'to said objects being fed from the other side, covering one said canister half with a thin septum, abutting said canister halves to form a completed loaded cylindrical canister, removing said septum, inserting said completed canister into an open ended container, then sealing said container.

2. A method of loading a maximum number of fiechettes into a tubular container comprising the steps of placing one half of a symmetrically segmented tubular canister each in an identical die, loading said flechettes in side by side relation from each side of each said canister half, said fiechettes being fed from one side of each said canister half being reversed with respect to the: flechettes being fed from the other side thereof, leveling said flechettes in each said canister half, covering one 4 of said canister halves with a septum of thin material, abutting said canister halves to form a completed tubular container, removing said septum from between the halves, inserting said completed tubular container into a can, then sealing said can.

3. In a method of packaging a maximum number of symmetrical objects into a constricted space, the steps of assembling one half of a symmetrically segmented cylindrical canister in a semi-circular groove formed in a first fixture, assembling the otherhalf similarly in a second identical fixture, vibrating each said fixture and loading said symmetrical objects into said halves while vibrating, said objects being fed alternately from each side of each said half and arranged in side by side relation, said objects being fed on one side of said canister being rotated with respect to said objects being fed from the other side thereof, ceasing said vibrating, tamping each load in each said canister half to level same, covering one said half with a septum, inverting said fixture containing the uncovered load to abut said fixture containing the covered load whereby a completed cylindrical canister and a completed tubular bore is formed by said fixtures and said halves, forcing said completed cylindrical canister through said completed bore into a cylinder having one end closed, then lightly sealing said completed canister in said cylinder.

r 4. In a method of loading flechettes into a cylindrical container, the steps of assembling a pair of semi-circular symmetrically segmented canisters having divided compartments each in a semi-circular groove formed in a pair of identical fixtures, alternately feeding said flechettes from each side of each said compartments into said semicircular canister halves, said fiechettes being fed from one side of each said compartment with their points in the same direction andin side by side relation, while on the other side of each said compartment, said fiechettes are arranged in side by side relation with their points being in a reversed direction, vibrating said fixtures while feeding, ceasing said vibration when said canister halves are substantially filled, tamping said flechettes until they are packed in each said compartment and adding extra fiechettes by hand or by mechanical means until a substantially compressed level load of flechettes are contained in each compartment, placing a thin septum over one said filled canister half, abutting said fixtures andsaid canister halves to form a completed loaded cylindrical canister in a cylindrical bore, forcing said canister axially through said bore and into a tubular container having an open end, then lightly closing said open end of said container.

5. In a method of loading small elongated articles into a compact package, the steps of assembling the segments of a pair of symmetrically divided canister halves each in a groove traversing a pair of identical fixtures, feeding said articles from each side of each said canister half and in side by side relation whereby the longitudinal axes of said articles are in parallel relation with the longitudinal axis of said canister halves, said articles being fed from one side of each said canister half having its longitudinal axes reversed 180 with respect to the longitudinal axes of said articles being fed from the other side, whereby said articles enter each said canister half in alternate longitudinal positions, vibrating said fixtures while feeding said articles, ceasing said vibrating, tamping said articles to pack same in said canister half, leveling each load of articles in each said canister, placing a sheet of thin material over one said canister, abutting said fixture,

. removing said sheet of material, forcing said canister halves from said fixtures into a container, then sealing said container.

No references cited. 

